


Cliff's Edge

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F, Mouth-to-Mouth, Post-Episode: s06e15 To Helicon and Back, Tension, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8460193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Varia gets into a predicament or two.





	

Varia apologised, but her people didn’t forgive; she’d committed treason. The council sentenced her to exile: she was to abdicate and leave the Amazon village.

She packed her clothes and other small belongings and walked out with an expressionless face, carrying all her weapons on her person.

It was only when she’d walked a mile that she let the angry tears fall and blur her vision, not that she knew where she was headed anyway. The Amazon village was her home, the women her sisters. Making the decision to kill Gabrielle wasn’t hard: killing one to save the many? It was a no-brainer. But no-one else saw it that way.

After Helicon, guilt over the attempt she’d made on Gabrielle’s life plagued Varia’s mind, but she knew it would fade in time. The Amazon Nation – what was left of it – however, saw her attempt to kill a fellow Amazon as an unforgiveable crime, and it was only Gabrielle’s input at the trial that saved Varia from execution. Varia would laugh for eternity at that irony.

Now, she dashed the hot tears from her cheeks, blinking to clear her vision. It was growing dark – the trial had taken most of the day – and she’d soon have to stop for the night and make camp. She looked behind her. Another half mile, she decided, and then she’d think about stopping: she wanted to put as much distance between her and her old home as possible.

She was still walking after the last of the sun had disappeared below the horizon, the exercise keeping her mind off recent events. Instead, she was forced to use her senses to not get lost or collide with anything in the forest. It felt good to have a physical activity to focus on.

A twig snapped, alerting her to the presence of another being. She halted. Leaves crunched underfoot. Varia turned her head in the direction of the sound and, seeing it was a human heading towards the Amazon village, towards her sisters, she pounced, knocking the person flying – over the cliff.

There was a woman’s screech, and the sound of fingers scrabbling in the dirt. Varia stood at the edge she hadn’t known existed, and looked down. The moon shone brighter here than it had amongst the trees, and Varia recognised in an instant the woman hanging from her fingertips, the woman she’d attacked to defend her sisters but hadn’t meant to send over the cliff’s edge.

It was Livia – no, Eve.

Varia stared down at Eve, who was groaning as she tried to hold herself up and keep from falling down the ravine. The bottom was in shadow; it was deep. Eve wouldn’t survive the fall. Varia met Eve’s big, desperate eyes.

“Please,” Eve begged in a broken voice.

Varia just stared back, blank faced. She became aware of her heart thudding inside her chest, a dull but consistent rhythm that signified life. She had the murderer of her sister, the conqueror of her people, at her mercy.

“Varia,” Eve panted. “Please help me.” Her fingers trembled.

Varia watched, her heart beat, she smiled. A long moment passed in which neither of them spoke or moved. Then, Varia bent on one knee and reached an arm out to Eve.

Eve exhaled and looked at Varia with such relief that Varia had to keep her emotions in check. Eve clasped onto Varia’s hand. Varia extended her other arm, and Eve shook as she let go of the ground and put her hand in Varia’s. Locking her jaw and clenching her teeth, Varia pulled.

Eve came up over the cliff’s edge in a rush and landed on top of Varia, knocking the air out of her lungs. Winded, Varia stared up at Eve, who hadn’t moved but was staring back. They stayed like that for several seconds, until Varia remembered her need for oxygen and nudged Eve to get off her.

“Sorry,” said Eve, brushing herself off. Then, noticing Varia hadn’t moved, “You okay?”

Varia shook her head and pointed first to her chest and then to her mouth, hoping Eve would understand that she couldn’t breathe and needed time to recover. From experience, it would help if Eve assisted her in getting into a crouch.

Eve didn’t do that. Instead, she hurried back to Varia’s side, tilted Varia’s head back, and pressed her mouth to Varia’s, blowing air into her lungs. While Eve drew back to take a breath, Varia stared up at her in confusion, but not for long because Eve’s mouth was on her again, giving her air. When Eve pulled back, Varia coughed, able to breathe again. Eve helped her sit up.

“How do you feel?” asked Eve, stroking Varia’s back.

“Fine. Thanks.”

Eve nodded. “Good. I learnt that from my mother and Gabrielle.”

Varia stiffened, but Eve seemed not to notice.

“Thank you for saving my life.” Eve glanced at Varia with her soulful blue eyes.

“Yeah.” Varia nodded, not sure how to respond. She hadn’t been quick to help Eve, and she wondered if Eve guessed what had gone through her mind as she’d stood at the top of the cliff with Eve at her feet.

“Sorry for knocking you over the cliff,” Varia said, looking at Eve in earnest. “I didn’t know it was there.” She hesitated. “And I thought that whoever you were, you were a threat to the Amazon village.”

“No,” replied Eve, “I heard the Amazons had suffered a great loss, so I turned back to check on… them.”

Varia smiled at that. Eve’s concern for the Amazons touched her, considering the past. “I’m sure your mother and Gabrielle-” she choked on the name, and reminded herself the guilt wouldn’t last forever – “will appreciate that. If they haven’t already left.”

Eve smiled back. “I forgive you, Varia. You were protecting your village, and that’s admirable.”

Varia glanced away. “It’s not my village anymore,” she mumbled. At Eve’s frown, she explained, “I tried to kill another Amazon, and I’ve been banished. Ask your mother about it, I’m sure she’ll love the chance to talk crap about me.”

“I’m sure there’s a _reason_ you’d try to kill a fellow Amazon,” Eve insisted.

Varia scoffed. “You’re right, but you’d still get mad if I told you the whole story.”

“Try me,” Eve dared her, touching her hand.

Varia sighed. Eve looked at her like she trusted her, and they’d done terrible things to each other in the past, so what was one more painful truth? She took a deep breath. “Okay. But I did warn you,” she said, and began to relate the story of Helicon.

Eve didn’t get mad, nor did she cease touching Varia. Varia realised she didn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous prompted: Eve/Varia, “I didn’t mean to push him off the cliff, I swear. But I also wasn’t too keen on pulling him back up”!


End file.
